Renewal of residential building and remodeler contractor licenses

Residential building contractor and residential remodeler licenses are issued for a two-year license term that always ends March 31. If a license remains expired for more than two years, it cannot be renewed and a new license application must be submitted. A late fee of $90 is assessed to any license that is not renewed prior to the March 31 expiration date. If a license renewal is submitted after the license expires, the license will be renewed only through the original expiration date of the license, regardless of when the renewal is submitted -- DLI cannot prorate license fees or terms.

For example, if a license was issued in 2011 with an expiration date of March 31, 2013, and the licensee did not renew their license until September 2014, they would be required to pay the basic license renewal fee plus a $90 late fee, and the license would need to be renewed again on March 31, 2015. If that same licensee allowed the license to expire and did not submit a license renewal by March 31, 2015, they would be required to submit a new license application and would receive a new license number.

Continuing education

To renew a license, a licensee’s qualifying person must have taken 14 hours of DLI-approved continuing education (CE). A list of approved courses is available at https://secure.doli.state.mn.us/ccldcecourses/. Each individual who acts as a qualifying person for a residential building contractor or remodeler license is assigned a "registration number" that begins with a prefix of QB or QR. This number, also referred to as a "Q number," is used to track the individual’s continuing education with DLI, independently from the license record of any business license for which the individual acts as a qualifying person.

Since March 1, 2012, all CE sponsors have been required to upload directly into DLI’s licensing system all courses attended by individuals who are or seek to act as a qualifying person. In order to do this, sponsors are required to refer to the individual’s registration or Q number when entering CE data into DLI's system. Q or registration numbers can be located by looking up license information in DLI's online license lookup tool. Registration numbers are also required on the Designated Qualifying Person form that is one of the forms that makes up the license renewal packet. Because CE attendance is reported to DLI by the course sponsors, licensees do not have to submit course completion certificates with renewals.

Completing a renewal

Once a qualifying person has taken their required CE, you will need to gather all of the documents required for a license renewal (including the renewal packet) before submitting the renewal. Do not submit a renewal until ALL of the required documents have been gathered in one packet:

Secretary of State filing must be current - provide proof that your business filing is active. A hard-copy of the page on the Secretary of State's website showing the business filing is sufficient.

It is critically important that all of these documents are completed fully and accurately. Mistakes, omissions or missing documents will cause significant delay in the processing of a renewal. Providing a valid e-mail address will enable staff to communicate with you as efficiently as possible in the event there is a problem with a renewal.

Renewing online

Renewing a license online helps speed the process by eliminating some of the handling steps on DLI’s end. When renewing online, be sure to scan all of your documents as a single electronic file and have your credit card information ready before visiting the online license renewal page. Applicants are able to make updates to information DLI has on file and upload a renewal packet as a single electronic file, not as separate documents.

Late renewals

Pursuant to Minn. Statute 326B.092, subd. 3, a late fee of $90 will be assessed automatically when a completed renewal is not received in DLI's offices by the expiration date of a license. For residential building contractors and remodelers, this means DLI must receive your completed renewal packet by March 31 or you will have to pay the $90 late fee. Submitting a renewal close to the expiration date also means that DLI may not be able to process the renewal by the expiration date, in which case the applicant will be considered to be unlicensed until the renewal is processed. To ensure no lapse in license status, submit renewals prior to March 1, 2015. Doing so will guarantee the completed renewal will be considered to be timely.

Questions?

For help with questions about the renewal process, contact DLI's licensing staff at (651) 284-5034 or send an e-mail to DLI.license@state.mn.us.

Please note: The Department of Labor and Industry does not accept cash as payment for licenses, inspections, copy requests and other DLI services. Accepted methods of payment include checks, money orders and electronic payments that can be made through the DLI website.